


Promises in Metal and Wood

by DrayOakenshield



Series: Loving a Dwarrow [4]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post BotFA, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 15:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrayOakenshield/pseuds/DrayOakenshield
Summary: Its been two months since the tattoo incident and Bilbo and Thorin are ready to take the next step toward their future.





	Promises in Metal and Wood

**Author's Note:**

> 12/22 - no changes were made to the story, I have updated my psued to link it more clearly to my tumblr

Thorin was glaring at the royal forge as if it had grievously insulted his honor in some way. He was a blacksmith, he worked with the hardest and most temperamental metals their mountains could produce. Silver should not give him this many issues but if he could get the shape to hold then the engraving would mess up but more often than not the metal wouldn’t hold its shape. Huffing he put the very lopsided attempt at the bead back in the melting pot to try again. “Fili quit laughing at me before I use your beard for fuel for the forge.”

Fili snickered again and resumed rebuilding the form Thorin would use to shape the bead he was making for Bilbo. “You know you could do a pair of iron beads right? It would almost be more fitting in a way.” 

“How would iron be more fitting for the prince consort than silver and sapphire? Those are the colors of the line of Durin after all, I think that alone makes them more worthy colors than black iron.” Thorin asked as he pulled out the molten silver to try once more to form it into a bead he could carve for Bilbo’s courtship braid.

“Firstly, you and I both know the best polished iron can reflect the light as well as silver does,” Fili remarked as he tapped the mold to knock any air bubbles loose to help strengthen the bead. Setting the mold aside to cool and solidify he turned his full attention to Thorin. “Secondly you can turn iron into such delicate and gentle shapes none would believe its iron. Lastly, and probably most importantly, you are a blacksmith. Ironwork is your chosen craft and the beads are supposed to be made of something representing the crafter.”

Thorin eyed his nephew shrewdly. “Fili when did you grow up on me?”

“Sometime between the Blue Mountains and here I would expect,” Fili said with a wry smile.

Thorin shook his head before smiling at last. “Fine have it your way. If this bead doesn’t take I will fold his beads out of iron and fit it with a sapphire.”

“My beard and I thank you,” Fili said laughing. “Have you heard any word on how Bilbo is doing with his beads?”

“All I know is that he is carving it out of wood, which I’m sure means he is having a much easier go of it than I am.” Thorin chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other end of the royal wing in the royal sitting room Bilbo huffed angrily and chucked a misshapen piece of wood into the fire. “Why did I open my mouth and say I would carve his bead myself? I barely have the skill to whittle a basic pipe much less a pair of intricate beads.”

Kili chuckled and tossed him another small block of wood. “You are making far too much of a fuss over this Bilbo. As long as there is a hole big enough to fit his courting braids through it Thorin will happily wear whatever you make.”

“I know that truly I do. But I want this to be the best for him.” Bilbo sighed carving another piece of wood off the block to start another attempt at his beads. “I know he is making mine out of traditional metal and I already feel bad enough that I can’t do the same for him so these have to be perfect.”

“For someone who can be so observant you can be really dense when it suits you,” Kili said laughing as he held up his own courting braid. “Remember Tauriel made my fastenings out of leather she tanned and pressed herself.”

“But nearly every other bead I’ve seen has been metal.” Bilbo pointed out.

“Aye but more of the dwarrow that call this mountain home are metal workers, either miners or smiths. Set foot in the Blue Mountain and you would find more beads made of wood and leather because those are the crafts of their people. My father carved the beads my mother wears out of antler from one of the deer he took down hunting. If a princess of the line of Durin can wear antler beads I’m sure the king under the mountain will happily wear wooden beads.” Kili soothed.

Bilbo nodded and bent his head back to his work. It had been nearly two months since he had first joined Thorin in the baths and started down this winding ride. In that time he had been tattooed, blessed by two of the Valar, given himself completely to someone else, and found more happiness than he could ever imagine. While there had not been a press from anyone to rush their courtship both Bilbo and Thorin had decided that they wanted to announce their courtship to all the dwarrow that had come back to Erebor at the yule feast which was happening the following weekend. And to properly announce their courtship they needed to have their braids in, which in turn meant having at least the first of their beads done. The other bead would be given during their wedding ceremony, which was tentatively set for the spring festival in just over five months. Bilbo had worried about the propriety of such a short public courtship for a newly returned king but Thorin had wanted to honor Bilbo’s hobbit roots by marrying him on the first day of spring. So Bilbo had begged Kili to abandon his betrothed and his brother for a night to come help him out and now here they were sitting by the fire working slowly on carving a bead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thorin sighed happily as the iron bent to his will into a filigree nearly fine enough to have come from mithril. As much as he hated to stroke his nephew's ego he was right, iron was much more in line with Thorin’s sensibilities. Fitting a small sapphire into the gap he just created in the iron bead he held it up for Fili’s inspection. “Don’t touch it yet as the metal is still far too hot, even for our forge toughened fingers. What do you think though?”

“It is perfectly suited for the prince consort of the throne. The soft curves of the metal are much better suited for Bilbo than the hard angles that are typical of our people. Well done uncle.” Fili said smiling

“Thank you nephew. I am sorry I kept you from Bofur so late, I should have listened to your advice from the start instead of my pride. If I had we wouldn’t have been here for the better part of six hours.” Thorin said, setting the bead next to its mate to cool overnight.

“This is important to me to uncle. At the end of the day Bilbo is family, even if you haven’t pulled your head out of your arse and asked him to court you. Now let’s go take a bath to get the smoke and dirt off of us and call it a night.” Fili said throwing an arm around Thorin's shoulders and steering him away from the anvil.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the same time as Fili and Thorin were exiting the forge to head to the baths Bilbo was sinking into the bigger bath next to the one he and Thorin had first washed each other’s hair in all those weeks ago. Though this particular tub was much too big for one little hobbit it was also kept much hotter than the one he had joined Thorin in so it seemed the reasonable choice for a soak.

Even though it was late Thorin hadn’t come back to their wing yet and Bilbo desperately needed a soak to loosen the tight muscles from being hunched over such a small piece of wood for so long. So he had bid Kili good night, written Thorin a note to let him know where he was, and made his way to the baths to relax for a bit until his lover was ready for bed. It had been a long evening and truth be told he was only done with one of the pair of beads but he was proud of what he had done. About three hours ago he had finally gotten the cylinder shape he wanted right and it turned out that was the easy part. Bilbo was nearly certain concentrating on carving the intricate dwarven knotwork into the small piece of wood had left a permanent crease between his eyes but it was worth it. The light wooden bead was going to look amazing in Thorin’s dark hair and he could hardly wait to place it there. As he lay in the water musing about what the next week would bring he was so lost in thought that he missed Thorin and Fili entering the baths laughing and teasing each other.

Thorin looked up from playfully shoving Fili and noticed his hobbit lounging in the pool with his head back and his eyes closed. Nudging Fili he grinned with enough mischief to rival Kili at his worst. Quickly and quietly he stripped out of his tunic and trousers and made his way over to the bath with Fili right beside him every step of the way. Sharing a look once they got to the edge of the tub the grinned and jumped into the deep middle of the pool laughing.

Bilbo screamed, not that he would admit such a girlish noise came from him, as Fili and Thorin popped up from the water clutching their sides laughing. Fili nodded at Bilbo once he got his breath back. “Hullo Bilbo! We just wanted to make sure you were still awake. Now that we have been assured of that fact I will be relocating to one of the smaller tubs to give you two some privacy.”

Bilbo flipped a rude hand gesture towards Fili’s retreating back before turning to sulk at Thorin. “That wasn’t very nice you know! What if you had scared me so bad I went under and drowned? I can’t swim remember?”

“Fili and I would never let you drown amralime,” Thorin said gathering the pouting hobbit into his arms and proceeding to kiss the sulk away. 

Bilbo brightened considerably at the kiss and snuggled into Thorin’s chest. “So I’m judging by the smell you’ve just left the forges. Did you get anything done?”

Thorin smiled into Bilbo’s hair. “Aye. The courting bead can be woven into your hair as soon as tomorrow if you wish.” 

“I thought we were waiting until the feast to announce our courtship?” Bilbo asked as he started removing Thorin’s beads and loosening the braids they were holding in place. Ever since that first night they had washed each other’s hair without asking any time they bathed together by an unspoken agreement which caused the rest of the company to tease them about needing to get a private bath set up in their quarters any time one of them happened to walk in on Bilbo with his hands in Thorin’s hair.

“Announce it yes, but we can wear our beads before then if you wish to. After all, we won’t be braiding each other's hair in public that would be considered obscene.” Thorin half mumbled, enjoying the attention Bilbo was paying to his hair.

“Yeah I can’t imagine the king being un-kingly enough to let someone touch his hair in public,” Kili called out laughing from his bath.

Bilbo could have swore he saw Thorin blush. Quickly he dropped his hands from the braid he was working on and started to apologize as he made to get out of the tub. “I’m sorry I didn’t think about it. I’ll just leave you to it.”

“Fili, out!” Thorin growled at his nephew as he snagged Bilbo’s wrist to keep him from leaving.

Realizing he may have gone too far with the teasing this time Kili didn’t argue, just lifted himself from the bath and threw a flannel towel around his waist before gathering his things and slipping out of the baths.

“Bilbo Baggins I love having you take care of my hair. If we were in the public baths it would be a different story but these are reserved for the company and their families, no one else. This is a perfectly acceptable place for you to have your hands in my hair. The company teases us in good fun but if it bothers you I will tell them to stop immediately. When we are in here or in our rooms you never have to ask to touch me, is that understood?” Thorin explained, still holding Bilbo’s hand to keep him from bolting at the first opportunity.

“I understand I can touch you as I wish but your hair is different. You told me the very first day how important hair is to dwarrow and I haven’t been respecting that. I’m a horrible suitor.” Bilbo said sadly, dropping his gaze to inspect the tiled floor of the tub.

Thorin released Bilbo’s arm in favor of capturing his chin to pull Bilbo to face him. “You are showing me exactly how much you love me by willingly washing my hair for me every chance you get. You show me love and tenderness that I never dreamed I would earn from another. You respect me by taking your time to make sure every strand is attended to. You are perfect for me Bilbo and I would never dream of calling you a bad suitor.”

Bilbo turned his teary gaze on Thorin. “Are you sure? I can leave you be if you wish.”

“Never leave me again amralime,” Thorin said leaning in to place a gentle kiss on Bilbo’s lips. “Tomorrow morning I am going back to the forge before you wake up just long enough to pick up your beads then I am bringing them back to our rooms where I am going to wake you up and feed you breakfast in bed. After you are fed I am going to kneel in front of you and offer you my bead and if you accept them I am going to braid it into your hair where it will stay for the rest of time. The only person who can do a courtship braid or a marriage braid is the partner, if you are bathing and know you will not be seeing me for a while I would request you leave that section of hair braided. Walking around without it would be akin to walking around naked.”

Bilbo smiled tenderly at Thorin, his worry quickly fading. “May I finish washing your hair tonight and offer you the first bead when we go back to our room? I don’t have the set ready but I do have the first one done and I would love to see you wear it.” 

“I would be honored if you would present your first bead to me tonight,” Thorin said with one more tender kiss before turning his back to Bilbo to give him access to the rest of his hair.

Once again Bilbo set himself to work unbeading and loosening the various braids still left in Thorin's hair. As soon as it was all hanging loose around Thorin’s face he took the wash cup and wet down the curls before lathering the soap in, this had all become a very familiar rhythm to Bilbo and he found washing Thorin’s hair almost as soothing as Thorin found being washed which suited him just fine. All too soon yet at the same time not soon enough Bilbo had rinsed the last of the soap out of Thorin's hair and was hugging him from behind. “Let’s go back to our fire shall we?”

Thorin smiled as he turned to pull Bilbo into his lap. “I think we should. After all, I believe someone said they had a gift they wished to present tonight.”

Bilbo opened his mouth to respond but all that came out was a highly undignified squeak as Thorin fluidly stood up from the bath with Bilbo cradled against his chest. Throwing his arm around Thorin’s neck Bilbo laughed. “Eager much?”

“I’m always eager to have you in our rooms. Even just calling them our rooms makes my heart skip a beat.” Thorin laughed setting Bilbo down on a bench and grabbing a towel. Before Bilbo could move to grab his own towel to start drying himself Thorin knelt in front of him and started drying his feet, paying extra attention to the fur on top of them that he knew Bilbo loved having attention paid to. Once he was sure Bilbo’s feet were taken care of Thorin started working his way up Bilbo’s legs with the towel, taking his time to make sure every inch of his hobbit was dry. By the time Thorin was done with his ministrations Bilbo was trembling with need. 

“I’m fairly sure you are trying to find the most efficient way to kill me.” Bilbo teased shakily.

“Just trying to make sure you know how much I treasure you.” Thorin purred placing a soft kiss on Bilbo’s lips before standing up and holding out a hand. 

Bilbo took the hand that was offered and stood up to embrace his lover. “I would never doubt how you feel about me, Thorin. I feel it every time you stare at me when you think I’m not looking, I feel it every time you brush a touch across me as you walk by, I feel it every time you reach out to pull me close while you are sleeping. I hear it in the tone of your voice when you call my name, I hear it in your heartbeat when I wake up with my head on your chest, I hear it in every whisper of your breath. Every second of every day I am confident in the fact that you love me.”

Thorin trembled slightly and he clutched Bilbo closer. Even two months into their relationship it still shook Thorin to his core knowing how deeply Bilbo felt about him. Burying his face into Bilbo’s hair he inhaled deeply before whispering, “thank you amralime.”

Bilbo smiled lovingly up at Thorin and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “Come on, let’s go to our rooms.”

After throwing their robes on and making sure they had all their belongings the couple walked out of the baths and made their way back to their rooms. Walking hand in hand through the empty halls they quickly made it back to their sitting room where Bilbo quickly kissed Thorin before shoving him in the direction of the couch before turning to their mantel and opening a small silver jewelry box and fishing something out of it. Turning back around he paused to admire the candlelight dancing off of Thorin’s skin and the soft smile playing on his lips.Taking a breath to calm the trembling in his hands he moved to kneel in front of Thorin and take his king’s hands in his own.

“Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, King of Erebor. Over the last year and a half I have been through more than I ever could have dreamed would happen to a small hobbit such as myself. I have faced down orcs and goblins, befriended men and elves. I have found a place to call home in a mountain on the other side of the world from everything I have known. I gained a family and a sense of purpose. And I fell in love with you, which is quite arguably the best thing I have gained out of this whole adventure. I know in my soul and bones I belong with you, this has even been confirmed by Aluë and Yavanna themselves. I am positive that whatever the future holds I can face it by your side. I want to learn to rule a kingdom by your side, I want you to teach me the language of your people, I want to be shown the traditions and ways of the dwarrow. Thorin if you will have me I would like to be your husband in this life and the next. Though I am not a crafter with the skills of your people I would be honored if you would wear my bead to show the world you belong to me and I am just as equally yours.” Bilbo offered himself with no reservations, opening his hand to reveal the wooden courtship bead he had spent so much of the afternoon carving.

“I accept your offer as long as you offer it freely with no reservations or doubts. I will wear the bead you carved so lovingly with pride that I get to call you mine. Will you braid your bead into my hair and claim me as yours amralime?” Thorin said, his voice heavy with emotion.

“I would be honored to,” Bilbo said joining Thorin on the couch and sectioning out a portion of hair just below his temple. 

Thorin sat as still as the rock he was carving into his mountain home as Bilbo’s gentle fingers wove his courtship braid into his hair. He had never dared to dream that he would find the One Mahal had made for him, much less in such a small hobbit that he hadn’t even wanted to accept into his company. Thinking back on the last year and a half he smiled happily, he really was going to have to figure out what was an acceptable gift to give the meddling fool of a wizard who had dragged him into the hobbit hole in the middle of the shire and gave him everything he ever could have dreamed of. Once he felt Bilbo’s hands fall away he reached up to gently stroke the braid and the bead at the end of it, scarcely believing it was real. “Thank you amralime. Now if you have no objections I am going to take you to our bed and show you with my body what words cannot describe.”

Bilbo pretended to think about it for a minute which made Thorin growl possessively. “Of course I will go to bed with you.”

Thorin growled again before scooping his fiance into his arms and carrying him to their bed and proceeding to shower him with love and passion until the early hours of the morning when they both passed out for a few blissful hours of sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early the next morning before his sleeping hobbit had begun to stir Thorin slipped out of their rooms and sent a guard to get breakfast for them while he went to the forge to pick up the beads that had been cooling all night so he could braid one into Bilbo's hair after breakfast. Once he collected the beads he dropped them into the pouch he had snagged from their room and tied it to his belt loop. Walking back to the royal wing he slipped back into their room right as one of the kitchen workers was setting the plates of breakfast he had sent a menu down to the kitchen for the day before. Thorin nodded his thanks at the worker as he finished his task and excused himself before picking up the plates of food and walking into the bedroom to wake his partner up. Much to his surprise, he found Bilbo just sitting up in their bed blinking blearily. “Good morning amralime. Did you sleep well?”

Bilbo stifled a yawn as he nodded. “I always sleep well when you’re holding me close, it’s the waking up alone that’s difficult.”

“I told you I was going to get us breakfast for a lie in today. I actually told the council yesterday that unless an elven horde was on our doorstep I was not to be disturbed today because I wanted to spend it with you and only you. Even the company knows to stay away. The only people that will be coming into our room is kitchen helpers delivering food.” Thorin said with a smile as he handed Bilbo the food so he could crawl into bed next to him.

Bilbo brightened considerably as he realized Thorin was his and his alone for the entire day. Relaxing back into the pile of pillows they kept at the head of the bed he passed one of the plates back to Thorin with a smile. “Thank you for getting us breakfast. I’m becoming quite fond of eating in our rooms, everyone back in the shire would be appalled at how improper I am with you.”

“Hmm I quite like you being improper with me,” Thorin smirked as he picked up a chunk of potato and offered it to Bilbo who was blushing quite extensively but took the potato with a small smile and offered Thorin one from his plate in return. 

An hour later Thorin took the empty plates and put them on the bedside table before pulling Bilbo to sit on the edge of the bed so he could kneel in front of him. Looking deep into Bilbo’s eyes he smiled as his nerves washed away, what he was about to do was just a formality at this point. Fishing one of the beads out of the bag at his hip Thorin began to speak.“Bilbo Baggins, son of Bungo, of Bag End in the Shire. A year and a half ago I knocked on your door and let myself into your home not knowing I was an uninvited guest. In the first weeks of the journey that started that night I didn’t trust you, parts of me despised that I had to protect you. But then you saved me, you put yourself in more danger than I think even you knew to save someone who could barely stand you. And in doing so you stole my heart. It would take me until the first time I sent you down to face that dragon to even admit it to myself, and a further two weeks to admit it to you. Now we are two months from that first night and I still wake up some mornings fearing I had dreamed all of this. I don’t know what I did to earn the love and trust of someone so pure and light but I thank Mahal for it every night when I get to lie down and close my eyes with you pressed against my side like the warm summer sun. Just as I proudly wear your bead in my hair I would be honored if you would do the same with my bead that I wrought with my own hand.”

Bilbo gasped as he saw the almost delicate filigree bead Thorin was holding out for him. “I would be honored to wear your bead in my hair, as long as you are offering it freely with no reservations or doubts. Will you braid it into my hair?”

Thorin smiled at the formal response, Bilbo had obviously been studying the books on Dwarrow traditions that Ori had uncovered in what was left of the library. Climbing into the bed he took a lock of hair into his fingers and started braiding it gently. 

Bilbo sighed happily as Thorin’s fingers nimbly worked a braid into his hair. After two years without access to a regular haircut his once neatly cropped hair was now down to his shoulders making him look more like a dwarf than a hobbit, a fact only accented by the braid Thorin was lovingly weaving into his hair. He still felt amazed that he was getting married to someone who completed him as perfectly as Thorin did, and with the blessing of Yavanna at that. He was pulled out of his musings by Thorin placing a gentle kiss at the root of his braid. “Thank you, my king.”

“No thank you for agreeing to wear it. You look so stunning with my bead in your hair. The colors of Durin really do suit you.” Thorin murmured into his hair before leaning down to kiss him tenderly. 

Bilbo reached up to tangle his hand in Thorin’s hair and pull him closer as he turned his body into Thorin. “Hmmm one of us is far too overdressed to be spending the day alone in our rooms.”

Thorin growled playfully before standing up to pull off the loose tunic and trousers he had thrown on for the short walk to the forge this morning. Turning to snag a bottle from the table on Bilbo’s side of the bed he smirked and crawled back into the bed. “Is this better for spending the day in bed my prince?”

“Oh much more appropriate my king.” Bilbo chuckled playfully, pulling Thorin down for a toe-curling kiss that clearly showed his appreciation for his lack of clothing and what his plans were for the rest of their day. Today was a day for private celebration, they could surface from their rooms to show off their new braids tomorrow.


End file.
